The National NAIDOC Committee have released this statement about the change of date and the announcement of the 2020 National NAIDOC poster:

New dates announced for NAIDOC Week 2020

Statement from the National NAIDOC Committee National NAIDOC Week 2020 celebrations will be held from the 8-15 November.

The November dates follow the decision by the National NAIDOC Committee (NNC) to postpone NAIDOC Week from the original July dates due to the impacts and uncertainty from the escalating Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic across our communities and cities.

The postponement was aimed at protecting our elders and those in our communities with chronic health issues from the disastrous impacts of COVID19.

The NNC understands that the original July dates for NAIDOC Week may still be acknowledged by communities and organisations. We strongly encourage that those events be staged in a COVID safe way to continue to protect the most susceptible in our communities.

Further announcements regarding the National NAIDOC Awards and a new NAIDOC Local Grants Round for 2020 will be made within coming weeks.

We acknowledge the commitment and tireless work of the many State, Territory, regional and local NAIDOC Committees, organisations and individuals whose passion each year makes NAIDOC Week an outstanding success.

We thank you for your understanding and working with us during these uncertain times.

The NNC are continuing to work with our partners and key stakeholders to make NAIDOC Week 2020 a suitable and fitting celebration of #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe

Waigana wins coveted NAIDOC 2020  Poster competition

Tyrown Waigana, a Perth based artist and designer, has been named as this year’s winner of the prestigious National NAIDOC Poster Competition.

His winning entry - Shape of Land - was judged by the National NAIDOC Committee to have best illustrated the 2020 NAIDOC theme: Always Was Always Will Be. Mr Waigana, a proud Noongar and Saibai Islander, has previously been named as one of WA’s best new and emerging Indigenous artists. According to the artist, his winning entry depicts the Rainbow Serpent coming out of the Dreamtime to create this country and how we are strongly connected to it.

“The Rainbow Serpent is represented by the snake and it forms the shape of Australia, which symbolises how it created our lands. The colour from the Rainbow Serpent is reflected on to the figure to display our connection to the Rainbow Serpent, thus our connection to country. The overlapping colours on the outside is the Dreamtime.”

“The figure inside the shape of Australia is a representation of Indigenous Australians showing that this country - since the dawn of time - always was, and always will be Aboriginal land,” Mr Waigana added.

Committee Co-Chairs Pat Thompson and John Paul Janke congratulated Mr Waigana on his winning entry and thanked all of the talented artists who submitted their artwork in this year’s competition.

“This year’s competition attracted a staggering 270 entries nationally who responded to the 2020 NAIDOC theme.”

“It was a challenging task for the Committee to choose a single winner from such a huge range of remarkable entries and we thank everyone who submitted an entry”

Mr Waigana - who has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in graphic design, advertising and illustration and photography - runs his own brand and business Crawlin Crocodile.

“My passion for art and design comes from an early age and my goal is to make a living of being an artist and take on exciting new creative projects.”

“I love to learn new techniques and platforms I can create on,” he said.

As the winner, Mr Waigana will have his artwork displayed on the 2020 National NAIDOC Poster and receives a $10,000 cash prize.

With over 100,000 posters printed, the National NAIDOC posters are distributed across the country from schools, kindergartens and universities to Government Departments, organisations and shopping centres.

Last year there were some 48,000 digital downloads of the 2019 NAIDOC Week poster.

The iconic NAIDOC poster has been celebrating and promoting NAIDOC Week since the late 1960s and rose to national prominence in the 1970s with the establishment of the Indigenous rights movement. 

To find out more about this year’s artwork and winning artist and to download a digital copy of the 2020 National NAIDOC Poster visit the NAIDOC website.